Kadena, Tinker units team up for presidential support

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Four airborne warning air control system aircraft and about 150 Airmen from Kadena Air Base, Japan, and Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., deployed to Utapao, Thailand, in support of President Barrack Obama's four-day visit to Southeast Asia, Nov. 18-22.

The two AWACS units provided 24/7 airborne early warning support throughout the president's visit to Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. The team acted as a hub of U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and provided command and control as part of their air battle management capabilities.

"Within days of notification, the men and women of the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron and 718th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, along with Tinker Air Force Base's 552nd Air Control Wing, picked up and deployed four E-3 (Sentries) and 150 personnel to a remote airfield in Thailand," explained Lt. Col. Trey Coleman, 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron director of operations. "The feats accomplished during this deployment were nothing short of miraculous."

During their brief deployment, Coleman said "Team AWACS" flew 125 percent of their originally tasked missions.

"The statistics say everything; it is no easy accomplishment for a platform that traditionally has a 70 percent mission effectiveness rate," Coleman said. "This triumph is more impressive when you consider that it was done from a bare-bones base with minimal maintenance equipment, information technology, and transportation infrastructure."

While the operators flew long missions, Coleman praised 18th Wing and 552nd ACW maintainers and 909th Air Refueling Squadron tanker crews for their hard work that made all the missions possible.

Together, the 718th AMXS and 552nd ACW maintainers worked endless miracles to ensure that every jet was ready to fly every time," Coleman said. "The tanker crews from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron were there every time we needed them.

Working side-by-side, Coleman said the aircrew and maintainers got all four E-3s in country, flew every mission, and returned home safely in less than a week.

"The last jet came home on Thanksgiving Day, just in time for a turkey dinner," he said.